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Friday, February 16, 2018

It's Friday....yeah!! I'm so ready for the weekend :) Today I have a new layout to share for the Paige Evans Design Team. I used Paige's new Pick-Me-Up collection, which is just so bright and beautiful. I often use white or light backgrounds for my projects so I challenged
myself to use a dark blue patterned paper as my background for this
page. I used Pick-Me-Up Paper 15 and also Paige’s Faux Flower Background cut file.
I cut the design first and then left the paper on my Silhouette cutting
mat to add some mixed media to it. I first smudged some white gesso
over the cut file area with my fingers. I knew I was going to add a lot
of color to the page, so I used several coordinating colors of ink
sprays over the gesso to create a watercolor effect. Once it all dried, I
carefully peeled it off the mat and punched out the shapes. Next, I
used nine different patterned papers from the collection to back all of
the open spaces. I love how all the colors pop against the dark blue
and all of the ink sprays just add to the color explosion.

For added texture and dimension, I machine stitched through every line
of flowers with different colored threads. This collection is excellent
for backing cut files because there are so many colors and patterns to
choose from. In fact, it was hard to narrow down which papers to use! I
used several pieces from the Pick-Me-Up Ephemera Die Cuts to embellish.

To add layers under my photo, I used some pieces from the Journaling Spots and Ephemera Die Cuts. Those floral clusters are my favorite! To the left of the photo I created a small title using the Mini Thickers which
are perfect for these dark backgrounds - the white just pops off the
page. Then I created a little cluster of goodies underneath it: I fussy
cut some small word and phrase bits from the 6x6 Paper Pad. I also added a sticker from the Stickers and a few Puffy Stickers.

The Ephemera Die Cut pack has this adorable hat included, and it just happened to fit my daughter's head in the photo...haha. I just had to add it to her...I think it's cute (and funny!) :)

Here's one more close-up of all the awesome goodies! I just love the Mini Thickers...they're the perfect size, and if you want to color them, you can!

I hope this inspires you to step outside of your comfort zone and use a
dark background! It was a challenge at first, but once I got going with
the embellishing, it quickly came together. And it really makes those
bright colors stand out!

Be sure to check out my process video here if you'd like to see this page in action :)

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Hey there, friends! I'm here with a new layout to share for the Shimmerz Education Team. I used mostly white cardstock on this layout...no patterned paper at all. I used quite a bit of Shimmerz Inklingz, Creameez and even some Blingz to create this pretty Valentine-themed page.

I began by cutting this cute Flower Heart cut file by Paige Evans on white textured cardstock. I covered the entire thing with clear gesso before peeling it off the cutting mat. I used a variety of pink, red and purple Inlingz to paint all the flowers. I blended colors together. I used water to help them run together and lighten up in some areas. I let them dry and then added even more color. I used Inklingz Hot Stuff, Bahama Mama, Plum Crazy, Beets Me, Lover's Lips and Gosh Garnet. For the leaves, I combined Creameez Pining for You, Lettuce Get Together and Jolly Green Giant. I used the same colors on the right side and then added in some splatters from Inklingz Miner Miner 49er.

Once everything dried, I very carefully machine stitched around some of the flowers using gold thread. I love the texture and extra pop of shine it gives. Here you can see how the paints shine in light!

I cut a few more flowers in varying sizes and created a cluster here on the right. I used the same colors to paint these as well. I used an old Martha Stewart leaf punch for these smaller leaves. I also tucked in some red & pink thread and a few older gold Amy Tangerine epoxy hearts.

To add some lift to my photo, I added some adhesive foam behind it along with some tissue paper. I love how this creates such great depth once I tuck bits and pieces under the edge like I did these flowers and thread. I also machine stitched around the edge of the heart here.

I reached into my stash and found some very old Pinkfresh Studio puffy scalloped border stickers which I tucked in at the top and bottom of the photo. The color matched perfectly. See how the Miner Miner 49er shines? I just love it so much!

Check out these gorgeous colors. Here you can see on this larger flower the gold hints from the Gosh Garnet color. It's mixed with Lover's Lips here to create more of a red tone, but the Gosh Garnet is actually more of a pink than red. And it has gold powder mixed in, so it always dries with a golden shimmer!

Here's another angle of all the dimension on the left side. I went simple with the title and used a matte gold Thicker from my stash.

One more close-up of all the shine!

I hope this inspires you to create a layout "from scratch" and just paint something pretty with only cardstock. You don't always need a bunch of patterned paper and embellishments. Make them yourself...woo hoo!

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Happy Tuesday, friends! It's a great day because it's my birthday...woo hoo!! I wanted to share my newest layout for the Hip Kit Club today featuring the 2018 January Hip Kits. This week's theme is "love and hearts," so I picked out lots of heart goodies from the kits. I was thumbing through the Project Life cards and found one with a tic-tac-toe design on it. I was inspired to create my own grid design and use my photos as the diagonal focus.

I used some of the Tutu Pink cardstock from the Cardstock Kit as my background. I used a palette knife to scrape some white gesso over the paper and then lightly drew a grid design of nine squares. I used the Distress Oxides from the Color Kit to add lots of watercolor goodness to the background. I also added in some Shimmerz sprays from past Color Kits to add some color variation. Once that dried, I machine stitched along the lines with black thread.

I used a heart punch from my stash to create four large hearts. I used a few of the patterned papers from the Main Kit and added lots of embellishments. I used several pieces from the Crate Paper Main Squeeze collection and some dimensional hearts from Pinkfresh Studio. I also added a few of the Vicki Boutin watercolor stickers, which I colored blue.

I really love a grid design like this because you can "decorate" each square as a separate mini layout. Here I machine stitched around the big heart and then added a Main Squeeze die cut. I actually trimmed it down because it's quite big. I punched some smaller hearts from patterned paper and then touched it up with some Pinkfresh Studio Puffy Heart Stickers.

How cute are these Crate Paper gold hearts?! I created a little banner with them and then stitched through them with gold thread.

I love all the dimension from all of these bits and pieces!

This paper here is from Crate Paper Main Squeeze and it's only in the Paper Kit. I cut "You Rock" from a Crate Paper Good Vibes paper.

I overlapped those awesome red & pink Thickers under the middle photo. I love the pop of bright red they give!

I hope this inspires you in some way. Grid designs are awesome, and I find them really fun to make and embellish. Check out my process video here to see it come together.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Happy Saturday, friends! I'm back today to share another layout I created just for fun using some older supplies. Yay for digging into older stash...woo hoo! I have started my Using Older Supplies videos again on my YouTube channel. I used some October Afternoon papers for this. These papers are from 2013, and it felt so great to use them!

I first covered some white cardstock with clear gesso. I then just tore the blue bokeh paper and added a little rip in the middle. This looks neat because of how it curls up. You can see the yellow pattern on the back. The second paper I used had lots of pretty feathers on it, and I fussy cut a lot of them out. I wanted it to look like all the feathers were falling out of the tear with my photos scattered all around it. I used some Shimmerz Paints on the background--Creameez Great Fruit, Inklingz Bahama Mama and Aqua Huez Little Lily. I also added in some Blingz Gold Glimmer and some splatters of Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine.

I took two different photos of the finished layout in different lighting because of all the gold. It shines in the light and looks darker in another light, so here you can see both effects.

I used four cute photos of Paige, which I converted to black and white. They were taken at night with my phone, so they were a bit grainy. But I don't let that stop me from using them because they're adorable :) I scattered them around the page and positioned all the feathers. I machine stitched with gold thread through some of them for added shine and texture. All the gold stickers I added are from a MAMBI book I got at Michael's a few years ago.

I did add a bit of Shimmerz Well Blue Me Down to the blue bokeh paper to add some shading right about this big rip. I also tucked a few feathers under there along with some aqua thread.

I used this "Smile" sticker here, but I first stuck it to some vellum and cut it out. I didn't want to stick it directly to the background, so this way I could move it around and tuck it in the photos here like a separate embellishment.

I used more of the MAMBI stickers to create a small title...Hey Pippy. That's just one of the nicknames we have for this silly girl :) I also added in a few epoxy circle stickers from the Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine collection from a few years ago.

To raise the photos up of the page, I add some adhesive foam under them. I get that at Walmart in the craft section...or it might be in the kids art section.

Here are a few more close-ups because I just kept taking them...haha. I did try to add a white clear sticker under the title, but you can't really see it. I was going for tone-on-tone with the white, but since the sticker is flat you really can't tell. Oh well.

I hope this gives you some ideas to try with some of your older papers and embellishments. Don't be afraid to cut things out and use them in a different way. There are no rules, so do whatever you like! Here's a process video showing you how I made this from start to finish.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Hey, friends! Today I'm sharing my newest layout for the Hip Kit Club. I was part of this week's Mixed Media Monday using the 2018 January Hip Kits. I began this layout with the January Color Kit.
I used the Echo Park floral stamp with the Picked Raspberry &
Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks to create a big artsy-style background
design. I stamped onto some white scrap paper first, then I spritzed
the stamp with water. I also stamped the ink pad onto plastic
packaging, added water and smooshed it down. I even splattered some
pink Shimmerz sprays from previous Color Kits. I also used the Peacock
Feathers Distress Ink from the November Color Kit.
Once I was finished, I used various sized circle punches to create
circles from it. This is a great way to get a mixed media look while
keeping things neat and tidy. I also used the Distress Oxides on my
background cardstock along with some clear gesso.

Here you can see the stamp’s detail on the circles. There are no rules
on how to use a stamp, so if you want to get artsy with it, then go for
it! I did a lot of machine stitching with gold thread and layered in
some of the exclusive floral die cuts from the Main Kit. I fussy cut “Party Time” from a Project Life Card.

Here are more layers and more of the gorgeous Distress Oxide colors. I used some of the Dear Lizzy gold alphas from the Embellishment Kit for the other part of my title here. I did punch a few smaller circles from one of the Crate Paper Good Vibes papers.

I cut a piece from the Crate Paper Good Vibes cut apart sheet and used
it as a layer behind my photos. I love how all these colors turned out! Have you ever tried machine stitching on a layout? The texture it creates is the coolest!

Kim Watson did a fabulous job designing these beautiful floral die cuts. These matched perfectly, so I tucked them underneath this large circle before stitching.

This epoxy sticker and label sticker are both from Pinkfresh Studio. I really love how the mixed media circles look up next to the patterned paper circles. It's fun to mix and match.

Here's one last photo of the background and circles. You can see the texture from the gesso. Using the gesso just ensures that you are able to use more liquid and have it blend and smudge a lot easier. Otherwise the liquid and ink would soak right into the paper.

I hope this inspires you and gives you some ideas on how to use the
Color Kit. You can see more details and watch how I did this in my
process video here.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm back today to share a new layout for the Paige Evans Design Team featuring the NEW Pick-Me-Up collection. It's so full of rich colors and fun patterns...I just can't get enough of it! You know I'm obsessed with Paige's cut files, so I decided to use the Flower Large design for this layout. I took a different approach and wanted to only use the inside pieces from the flower. So I cut it first on white cardstock. I peeled each piece one at a time from the cutting mat and traced it onto a patterned paper. I cut it out and basically paper pieced it back together on my background. I was left with the inside shapes but not the outline that I cut out...if that makes any sense :) It took some time, and I used many patterned papers, but I just love how it all turned out.

Before I glued down all the flower shapes, I coated the white cardstock background with clear gesso. Before it dried, I used some pink Shimmerz over that and scraped it down with a palette knife. I wanted it to sort of blend with the gesso. I wanted it to show through some of the flower shapes as well as in the middle of the page. I also added some gold ink splatters. I decided to run the flower off the page on both sides. Once it was all organized and glued down, I very carefully machine stitched through each line with gold thread.

I used one sweet photo of Paige, and I situated it kind of crooked off center to the right. I layered some patterned paper behind it as well as some adhesive foam and tissue paper. I continued with the bold color scheme and added in some flowers from the Ephemera Die Cut pack. I added some dark blue thread as well.

This collection has a great sticker sheet, so I pulled this "You Amaze Me" piece and used it here. The "laughter" piece is from the Ephemera Die Cuts. And she was laughing, so I had to use it :)

Awwww...so cute! I love layering small bits on top of the photo if there's room.

I was so excited to see that Paige included Rub-Ons in this collection! I used some of the floral shapes here as well as some of the Washi Tape and Puffy Stickers.

One of my favorite things about using a large cut file design like this is that it pretty much dictates the rest of your page. Once the background was done, I had limited space to put my photo. So from there the rest of the page came together a little quicker.

Here's one more close-up of all the pretty goodness :)

I hope this inspires you in some way! Paige's cut files & her collections are a perfect match. Be sure to check out my process video to see how I created this page :)

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About Me

Hey there! I'm Missy from sunny Florida USA, and I love all things scrapbook related. All the paper, the stickers, the paint...the more the better! I'm married to Marshall and we have two beautiful daughters, Reese & Paige. I also love teaching Les Mills fitness classes, cycling, reading and watching movies. I love documenting my life one photo at a time.